Poker Face (The Masks Series Book 4) (18 page)

Eric

Caity was scared. The asshole sitting next to her, touching her, whispering in her ear...yeah, I wanted to kill him. I’d go down for murder. I didn’t give a shit. I wanted to break each one of his fingers.

The second the limo pulled to a stop and the doors clicked open, I made my move, lunging across the car and trying to clip that guy, Bruno, in the face. Brutus, whose hand I’d damaged earlier, moved like a viper, snatching me away before I could do any damage. Laying another one into me, I gritted my teeth, trying to hide the pain.

Caity saw it though, her face crumpling as Bruno pulled her out of the car. I knew it was for me, which was the only thing that stopped me from struggling as the big guy hauled me out of the limo. Dad was shoved beside me and we squished into a gold elevator. My muscles twitched and trembled as we ascended. I wished I was Captain America and could lay all these idiots flat in less than thirty seconds, but this wasn’t a Marvel comic, unfortunately.

My fingers bunched into fists and I closed my eyes; Gramps’ quiet voice inside me reminded me to remain calm and think.

The doors dinged open. The big guy pushed me forward and we paused at the stop of a short run of stairs. Waiting below us was the tall businessman I’d seen earlier. My guess - Santiago Gomez, the man who’d
bought
my girlfriend. I glared at him, hoping my wrath would shine through.

His eyes ran over me and he smirked, a pitiful snigger bursting out his nose. Straightening his jacket, he flicked his fingers and Bruno snatched Caity’s arm, dragging her down the stairs. She yelped. My stomach bunched tight. I could feel the pile of knots inside me. All I could do was stand there and watch, a boiling mass of rage that couldn’t be unleashed.

Santiago gripped Caity’s face, squeezing her cheeks. I could only see her profile from this angle, but I’m sure her eyes were glistening. Her chin trembled, her eyes narrowing slightly before bulging wide.

“You try to run from me? I was good to you.” Santiago’s voice was soft, yet terrifying.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Breaths tore out of my nostrils and I shot Dad a look that told him everything. He nodded his understanding, but then his eyes flicked to the guy beside him and the one behind me. I took a quick glance and noticed their hardware. Dad had been bereft of his gun in the limo. We were weaponless and getting dead would do Caity no favors. I had to stand my ground, dammit. My tight muscles vibrated in protest, nearly exploding when Santiago laid one on my girl, a hard slap that left fat, red fingermarks on her cheek.

“Who are they?” He adjusted the wide gold band on his pinky finger.

Caity shook her head, dropping her gaze to the floor. Santiago’s lips drew into a thoughtful pout and then he shrugged, nodding at the big guy beside me.

A second later, I felt the cold metal of a gun barrel press against my temple.

“No! Sal, don’t!” Caity screamed, lunging towards him, but Santiago caught her wrist, kicking at her ankles so she fell to her knees. He kept her wrist in a tight grasp, yanking on her arm until she cried out. “Please!” she sobbed. “Don’t hurt them.”

“Who are they!”

Her head tipped forward, her long locks hiding her face from me. “My boyfriend and his father,” she finally mumbled.

“Boyfriend?” Santiago snickered while Bruno went rigid, his black gaze hitting me like a cannonball. I rose to meet it, which I soon found out was the stupidest thing I could have done. His smile grew, an arrogant triumph beaming on his face as he reached for Caity and snatched her into his arms.

His groping hands grabbed her butt, his snake-like tongue going for her neck. She struggled away from him, bashing his chest, but this only spurred him on.

“Bruno!” Santiago barked.

His nephew paused, his dark smirk still aimed at me.

“Let her go. You can have her later.”

With a reluctant sigh, he obliged and she dropped to the floor. Her hands shook as she wrapped her arms around herself. She looked up at me, her eyes full of remorse.

I gave her the best
I love you
expression I could, but it was probably broken and mottled by the anger pulsing through me. Watching her treated this way was killing me and I could feel myself on the verge of breaking.

“How did you find her?” Santiago directed the question at me.

I shook my head and scored another rock-fire fist in the gut from Sal.

Caity screamed while I doubled over with a groan. That was my third and by far the most painful of the night.

“How did you find her?” Santiago repeated.

I could barely breathe, let alone talk. I sensed Sal’s foot twitch beside me, he was getting ready to do some more damage when Dad yelled, “She left a note!”

Everyone stilled.

“A note?”

“What, you don’t know the story?” Dad’s scathing voice grated Santiago. I could tell by the tightening of his shoulders and the little twitch of Caity’s lips. She was reading him for sure.

Santiago worked his jaw to the side and pasted on a smile. “Tell me.”

“She was working undercover for the FBI, trying to out Diego Mendez. Miguel Vera found out and threatened to expose her unless she won him some serious cash. After that, I don’t know the full story, but I do know that she got an email to my son telling him what happened and that she didn’t trust Vera. She was worried something bad might happen to her.” Dad shrugged, selling the lie like a pro. “As soon as he got that we started looking. We figured Vegas, being the gambling capital of the world, was the best place to start. I guess we just got lucky when we spotted her tonight.”

I couldn’t tell if Santiago believed him or not. He was definitely listening and after a long beat he nodded to Sal, who hauled me to my feet.

“It’s the truth,” Caity muttered from the floor.

He glared down at her, tapping her thigh with his foot. “Maybe, but I paid good money for you and I do not care who these men are. They may not steal you away!” His voice grew to a thunder. “That is not how I do business!”

“What if we bought her back?”

Dad’s question made me want to punch him, but I understood where he was going.

Santiago smirked. “You could not afford her.”

“You might be surprised.”

The casino owner tipped his head, obviously enjoying the banter with Dad, although I couldn’t tell if he was putting on a show or not. He slid his hands into his pockets, the corner of his mouth twitching into a half-smile. His eyes shone with some kind of venom, a mixture of glee and egotism. Crouching down, he ran his hand down Caity’s hair, picking up one of her big curls and rubbing it between his fingers. Her shoulders pinged tight, breaths firing out of her nose in quick succession, her chest heaving. She kept her eyes locked on the carpet, but anyone in the room could smell her fear.

My rage bubbled.

“I don’t think I want to sell her. She’s available for hire, though. I can give you a discount, if you'd like to share her for the hour.”

That did it. I couldn’t stand the way they kept degrading her, like some useless piece of meat. I lurched down the stairs before Sal could snatch me, lunging for Santiago and grabbing his collar. He laughed in my face as I pulled him towards me, but I didn’t have a chance to say my piece. Iron fists attacked me from behind, pummeling me to the floor.

“Stop it! Stop it!” Caity screamed. “You’re hurting him!”

I took the blows, curling into a ball and covering my face. The kicks kept coming, the yells and pleas from Caity and Dad doing nothing to stop them.

“Please, I’ll stay! I’ll do whatever you want me to!”

“No,” I croaked from the floor and then groaned when another boot clipped me from behind.

“Enough!” Santiago yelled.

The beating came to a swift end, but it did nothing to dull the pain radiating through me.

“I’ll never try to run again and...” Her eyes flicked over her shoulder, her teeth locking together as she gritted out. “I’ll do whatever anyone asks me to. You just have to let them go.”

A slow smile bloomed on Santiago’s lips. “You really love him, don’t you?”

“With all I am,” she whispered.

His eyebrows rose, a small chuckle shaking his shoulders. “How very sentimental. Young love, so sweet.” Skimming her face with his large fingers, he smiled at her again. Her shoulders relaxed for a second until her eyes narrowed.

Caity’s head shook back and forth, the word
no
forming silently on her lips. “Please,” she whispered.

Santiago’s mild expression turned to granite. He looked down at me and muttered, “Take them to the shack.”

“No! NO!” Caity’s fist shot towards Santiago but he caught it, shoving her back into Bruno’s arms. She writhed against him, pounding at his iron grip. “If you do this, you’ll get nothing from me! Nothing!” Caity’s legs kicked and flailed, but they were no match against Bruno’s strength.

He dragged her away, a smug smile on his lips. “You’re mine now,
chica
.”

The look of evil delight in his eyes had me scrambling to my feet. My body protested, but I reached for Caity anyway. There was no way I was going to sit by and let that asshole rape my girlfriend.

“Don’t touch her!” My bellow was brought to a quick end by Sal who wrapped his arm around my throat and pulled me back.

“Stop it! Sal!” Caity cried out, struggling out of Bruno’s hold and stretching towards me.

I held out my hand to her, but the distance between us only increased as Bruno dragged her one way and Sal pulled me out the door.

“Eric!”

Eric

I could hear Caity calling my name all the way down the first flight of stairs. It was a new type of torture and way more painful than the bruises covering my body. I fought against Sal for three flights, but my aching body soon gave up and a solid fist to the face later, I drooped my head and let them pull me down to the parking lot.

I had no idea what the shack was, but the fear in Caity’s voice told me it wouldn’t be pretty.

Dad descended behind me, stoic and quiet. I hated him for that. Why the hell couldn’t he be falling apart, too?

Because the love of his life wasn’t upstairs being dragged into a room by some sicko.

I jerked, my body protesting against the images flooding my brain.

Not Caity.

Not sweet, pure Caity.

I grunted and struggled the rest of the way to the car, my body surging with adrenaline until the butt of a gun smashed into the back of my skull and the world went black.

*****

I drifted in and out, vaguely aware of blurry voices and fuzzy movements. When I finally came-to, the sun was lighting the eastern sky, a soft glow turning the surrounding desert pink. We were in a spacious SUV. The road we were traveling along was filled with potholes and rocks. We bounced towards our certain demise, the sense of gloom in the car undeniable.

I groaned, reaching for the back of my head and noticing I was in cuffs. The hard metal dug into my wrists as I rotated my hands.

I squinted a look at my father, his worried expression eased slightly when I raised my eyebrows at him. He fell back against his seat and nodded, looking out the window with a resigned sigh.

Sal was next to him, a gun resting in his lap. I turned and noticed another big guy next to me, his gun aimed straight at my midriff. It was disconcerting to say the least. I shuffled in my seat, keeping my gaze out the window as Caity swam through my mind. I shuddered, wondering what she must have gone through after I left. The back of my throat burned with hot, raging tears. I wouldn’t let them build up in my eyes. I was pretty sure my life was about over, but I was determined to go down fighting. My last breath would be spent trying to get back to Caity. There was no other way to go.

A cold, white fear nestled inside of me. If by some miracle we
did
make it out of this shack and I
did
make it back to that Devil’s armpit...what state would I find her in? Would she be broken? Would I be enough to heal her again?

I closed my eyes, hating that I even had to think this shit.

The car pulled to a stop, bringing our bumpy journey to an end.

Dad and I remained still as the men flung the doors open and eased out of the car. Hands clamped around our arms moments later and yanked us into the blooming sunlight. I scanned the brown landscape. There was nothing but hard shrubs and all sizes of rocks for miles. I had no idea how long we’d been driving. My guess was a few hours, but it wasn’t hard to tell that we were in the middle of frickin’ nowhere.

I glanced at Dad. His encouraging smile didn’t cut it and if Caity were here, she’d totally tell me he was faking it. If he was anything like me, which deep down I knew he was, beneath that smile was a spitting anger, dimmed by the icy realization that this was looking more and more like our end.

A rusty shack sat next to a couple of stubby Joshua trees. I could only imagine what lay behind that wonky door. If the horror movies were anything to go by, my end would be painful and traumatic. My eyes jerked away from it, fighting the terror trying to barge its way into my psyche.

The sound of an approaching vehicle made us all turn. It was the limo that had taken us the night before. My eyes narrowed then flashed wide when Bruno got out of the passenger side, slipping on his shades and buttoning up his jacket.

My chest heaved as he ambled towards us, a devious smile creeping over his lips.

Sal’s hand clamped around my arm in warning, the barrel of his gun digging into my side. I stood my ground, locking my jaw as Bruno stopped in front of me.

“Beautiful day, isn’t it?”

His straight, white teeth reminded me of piano keys. I couldn’t wait to see them come flying out of his mouth.

He snickered. “Don’t worry,
amigo
, I haven’t had the pleasure of tasting your woman yet. My uncle insisted I come here to make sure the job was done right.” He shook his head and was probably rolling his eyes, as well. Slapping me on the shoulder, he patted me a couple of times. “She’s waiting for me in my room though, all tied up and ready to go.”

I jerked towards him. “If you touch her, I’ll kill you.”

Bruno’s smile grew to a full beam as he lightly slapped my face. “How will you do that when you’re dead?”

Sal dragged me towards the shack. I kicked and surged against him the whole way there, no doubt pissing him off even more.

The door scraped open, a high screeching sound that made my spine spasm.

Sal hauled me into the room and wrestled me into a hard, wooden chair. Dad was thrown down behind me, our chairs locked together at the back. Sal held me still while the other guy undid one of my cuffs. Wrenching my arms behind my back, he secured the metal bonds once more, except this time I was attached to Dad. My investigating fingers soon figured out they’d crossed the cuffs so our left hands were locked together with one set and our right hands with the other. The cuffs clinked as I tugged against Dad, a burning already starting in my shoulders.

Bruno slapped my face. “You’re not getting out of here. Stop trying.”

I glared at him, which made his smirk that much more punchable.

He turned away with a chuckle, pulling Sal with him. The bulky men huddled in a group and started chatting. Dad looked over his shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of me. He no doubt wanted to say something comforting, but there was nothing to say. I kept my head straight and my eyes locked on the group of men.

Bruno pulled back. “I know you can do this. Just tell my uncle I stayed until the end and left while you were doing the clean-up.”

“What do you want us to do?” One of the guards asked.

Bruno peered down at us and shrugged. “Break their knee caps, take a few fingers, make sure they were telling the truth back at the hotel, then bury them.”

“Alive?”

Bruno nodded. “Just standard procedure.” He grinned at me, wiggling his eyebrows. “I would stay and do this myself, but there’s a fine piece of candy back on my bed that I have been waiting to sink my teeth into since the second I laid eyes on her. Hmmmm, she’s going to taste delicious, but I’m pretty sure you already know that. Thanks for breaking her in for me.” He went to slap my cheek again and I kicked out, landing my foot straight in his shin. He bounced back with a howl, struggling to pull himself together. Sal steadied him but Bruno jerked out of his grasp, pointing at me with a shaking finger.

“I would say you are going to pay for that, but I’m going to make her pay.” He leaned towards me, his eyes glinting. “Live with that...or should I say
die
with that.”

He spun out of the room, leaving me with a cold, hard rock in my belly. I kept my eyes locked on the door, listening to the sound of a revving engine and a spray of rocks. I was too numb to fight the guy securing my ankles to the legs of the chair.

I closed my eyes, feeling sick. What the hell had I just done?

There was a tap at the door and then a young face appeared. I recognized him as the limo driver.

“He took the car. Looks like I’ll be waiting around to take you guys back, so can you hurry it up please.”

Snatching the shovel from against the wall, Sal thrust it at the smaller man. “You want to make this quicker, go start digging their graves.”

The driver hesitantly took the spade, his deep brown eyes glancing over me. His brow wrinkled with what I thought was regret. With a sad frown, he pushed the door closed.

The two remaining men turned towards us, their cold stares unnerving me. Dad sat statue-still behind me. Funny, I was actually expecting him to say more at this point, give me some farewell speech, another apology, but maybe he knew better. With my insides raging like they were, I probably wouldn’t be able to hear anything anyway.

The men moved to a rickety table against the shack wall. It was covered with tools and I knew straightaway that none of them had ever been used for their designed purpose. I gulped at the sawdust in my throat, praying they’d get it over with quickly.

Sal picked up a ball-pein hammer, weighing it in his hands before nodding and turning back towards me.

My body went rigid, breaths firing out of my nose as I prepared myself for the pain.

The door flew open before Sal reached me.

“It’s the boss.” The driver held out a cellphone. “He’s checking in on Bruno.”

Sal looked to the other guy and softly swore. “What do we tell him?”

The other guy shrugged.

“Well, I’m not taking the fall for that spoiled brat.”

“Tell him we’ll call him back.”

The driver shook his head and thrust the phone towards him. “You tell him.”

“You!”

“You!”

“Shut up!” Sal boomed, his eyes skimming over me. Flicking his head to his two companions, they all left the room, slamming the door shut behind them.

My body sagged, the surge of adrenaline draining from my muscles. The spigot of pulsing energy had been on full bore and my head grew light and fuzzy.

“Just stay calm. We’re going to get out of this,” Dad muttered, wrestling with the cuffs around our wrists.

“Really,” I snapped. “And how the hell are we supposed to do that?”

“By not losing our temper and thinking this through logically.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “Let’s be logical. We’re both cuffed to a chair with no key. Two guys, each the size of Ajax, are testing out tools to smash our bones while another man is digging our graves. Besides all that, the only girl I can ever imagine loving is tied to a bed somewhere and about to be abused by a man who deserves to be castrated!” I ended in a bellow.

“Shut the hell up and pull yourself together! You think I got out of my death sentence by whining like a school kid? You want to get Caity out of her nightmare then rescue yourself first.”

“HOW!”

“I’m working on it!”

“Oh, whatever!” I spat. “You’re so full of piss and wind. Always talking, always got the right thing to say, but when it comes down to it you never step up.”

“I never step up?” Dad’s hands jerked against the cuffs. They jingled and clunked against the chair, pulling at my aching shoulders. “I sacrificed eight years of my life for you!”

“Which you wouldn’t have had to do if you’d just been able to control your gambling problem.”

“Hey! Hey! I apologized for that, and no matter what I say or do now I can’t take it back! You can either let that eat at you for the rest of your life, or you can forgive me and get the hell over it!”

My jaw clenched tight.

“I’ve tried to do right by you, kid. I’ve tried to keep you safe and yeah, I failed. I lost Gramps, the one guy you relied on and I couldn’t save him for ya.” Dad’s voice wobbled.

I went still, listening to the ragged way he sucked in his next breath and the quiet brokenness of his voice.

“I swore to myself that day I dragged my beat-up ass out of the desert that I would do everything in my power to make sure you didn’t end up like me. And I have been vigilant in keeping Marchant away from you. But I couldn’t say no when you asked to come back here. I knew there was nothing I could do to stop you from coming for your girl and I got it, because the way you feel about saving Caity is the way I feel about keeping you safe. I know I’ve broken way too many promises in the past, but I’ve kept this one and I will never break it. You’re my son and I’ll do anything it takes to give you the life you deserve...and I’ll keep doing that until I breathe my last breath. You got me?”

I swallowed.

“Buddy? You get it?”

“Yeah, Dad. I get it.”

“Good,” he clipped, once again in full control of his emotions. “Now I don’t know how long these guys are going to be, but let’s not waste any time. If we can get a shuffle going, we might be able to make it to that table and find a tool that can get these cuffs off.”

I nodded, turning my head to listen to Dad’s instructions, but before he could give any more, the sound of an approaching chopper cut through the air.

We both stilled, looking up at the pocked tin roof.

“Rhodes?” I whispered hopefully.

“It’s got to be.” Dad chuckled.

We sat in bullish silence, listening to the chopper drawing closer and coming in to land. A smile tugged at the edge of my lips until gunshots tore along the edge of the shack. We flung ourselves sideways, landing with a thud and matching groans. I ducked my head as more shots spat through the air. A few whizzed through the thin shack walls, pinging off the metal. Yelling ensued, followed by the sound of bodies dropping to the earth.

The chopper blades still whirred, but the gunfire stopped.

Slowly lifting my head, I struggled to look over my shoulder.